Season 7, Episode 04
No Country for Two Old Men
"I should be making you dig yours AND mine for getting us into this mess."
Directed by Mel Damski
Written by Kell Cahoon
During a housewarming party for Shawn moving into Juliet’s place, Henry meets Lloyd, Juliet’s boring but stable accountant of a stepfather. Shawn decides to schedule a lunch for the two of them to get to know each other better. Unfortunately, Henry soon discovers that Lloyd isn’t nearly as boring or stable as he looks, and soon finds himself caught up in Lloyd’s attempts to smuggle a small package into Mexico to pay off his immense gambling debts. After they both head south in a small plane and vanish, Shawn, Juliet, and Gus start tracking them down, dodging crooked cops and vicious gangsters who both seem determined to find out exactly what Lloyd is up to…Tropes:
- Affably Evil: Pablo Nuñez is the ruthless leader of a Mexican crime syndicate whom Juliet's stepfather Lloyd owes money to. However, Pablo is a pretty reasonable guy and was willing to forgive Lloyd's debt to him when Lloyd found a pair of cufflinks that belonged to Pablo's father, and Pablo is even grateful enough to invite him and Henry to a party. The only reason he even tries to kill Lloyd and Henry later on is because Lloyd stole some US Mint plates from him.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Juliet’s mother has a long history with corrupt, untrustworthy, bad men. Juliet’s father was the tip of the iceberg. Her settling down with the boring-but-stable Lloyd was her attempt to get away from that… but Lloyd has some skeletons in his own closet.
- Bulletproof Vest: Lloyd spent the entire episode wearing one, but we don’t find out until it lets him survive a gunshot at the very end.
- The Cartel: Pablo Nuñez runs one out of Baja.
- The Cavalry: The local Mexican police end up being this when they find Pablo Nuñez outside his compound about to shoot Shawn, Gus, Henry, Juliet, and Lloyd.
- Dig Your Own Grave: After Pablo catches Lloyd trying to steal his engraving plates, he forces Henry and Lloyd into this trope. Things get complicated when Shawn, Gus, and Juliet get involved, and since Pablo can’t wait for more graves to be dug, they spend some time bickering over splitting two graves with five people.
- Dirty Cop: Officer Javier Lamas turns out to be one; he takes some incredibly valuable stolen engraving plates from the US mint, and tries to frame Lloyd for stealing them.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Nuñez deeply respected his father, a hard-working laborer, and was willing to forgive a multimillion-dollar debt in exchange for Lloyd finding and returning the stolen cufflinks that he wanted to be buried in.
- Gift-Giving Gaffe: Lassiter gives Shawn and Juliet a set of kunai throwing knives as housewarming gifts. They know Lassie’s heart’s in the right place, though he gets a couple incredulous looks.
- MacGuffin Escort Mission: The first half of the episode involves Lloyd trying to take a package to Pablo Nuñez. It turns out to be his late father’s cufflinks.
- Mundane Solution: Lloyd reveals to Pablo that he found his father's cufflinks online.
- Police Are Useless: The local Mexican police force, in an unnamed town in Baja, are lazy, corrupt, and are happy to simply ignore Henry and Lloyd’s disappearance… until they see an opportunity to catch a local drug lord outside his compound.
- Properly Paranoid: As soon as Juliet learns that (1) one middle aged bald man in a Hawaiian shirt dodged gunfire and jumped into a black SUV driven by a second (2) middle aged bald man in a yellow tie, she immediately realizes that Shawn set up a thing between his dad and her step dad and things have gone horribly wrong.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Lloyd deliberately plays this up, but it’s hinted more than once that he’s sharper than he looks, and is probably Obfuscating Stupidity to at least some degree.
- South of the Border: The protagonists spend some time in an impoverished town in Mexico, dealing with corrupt/lazy cops and a dangerous drug kingpin.
- Stop Being Stereotypical: When Gus spends a few days away from his girlfriend and her son, he finds himself missing them and chastises himself for “abandoning” them… then accuses himself of being a black stereotype.
- Trapped by Gambling Debts: Lloyd is a former gambling addict in debt to some very dangerous people.
- Variations on a Theme Song: The Spanish cover of “I Know You Know” from Lights, Camera...Homicido plays again in this episode.
- We Are Not Going Through That Again: At the very end, Lloyd suggests going to see a cockfight with Henry, who flatly turns him down.
